Golf club aiming device



Feb. 17, 1976 I o. s. TANCZOS 3,495,834

GOLF CLUB AIMING DEVICE Filed Aug. 22, 1967 INVENTOR.

& pmw .Sf 727/vczos United States Patent 3,495,834 GOLF CLUB AIMING DEVICE Oswald S. Tanczos, 240 Pasadena Ave., Tustin, Calif. 92680 Filed Aug. 22, 1967, Ser. No. 662,534 Int. Cl. A63!) 53/00 US. Cl. 273-163 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A golfclub pointer secured to the shank of a golf club with the pointer member being swingably secured to said shank for movement between a, first position extending parallel to said shank and a second position extending at substantially a right angle to said shank and the face of the golf club head; and the pointer member includes an upstanding deflector portion at the free end of the pointer member and there is provided a mechanical stop for limiting the downward movement of the pointer member relative to the golf club shank.

This invention relates to a golf club aiming device, more particularly to such a device which is suitable to be mounted on a golf club on a somewhat permanent basis.

Embodiments of the present invention are used to assist a golfer in the proper alignment of his golf club, whether the same be a putter or any other of the golf clubs, Briefly, the invention incorporates a pointer member which is hingedly secured to the shank of the golf club by means of a clamp for swinging movement between a storage position extending generally parallel to the shank of the golf club and an operative position extending generally at a right angle to the face of the golf club and at a right angle to the golf club shank. The pointer member extends from the golf club shank approximately 9 or inches, and has a highly reflective surface. Because of the last feature, it can be easily seen even when the golf club is being swung rapidly as during the swing of a driver. The pointer is three or more times longer than the width of the face of the golf club head, and therefore, it can be aligned in the desired position with a great deal more accuracy than can be the considerably shorter golf club face.

With the foregoing in mind, it is a major object of this invention to provide an improved golf club aiming device.

Another object of this invention is to provide a golf club aiming device which may be secured to the shank of the golf club, and easily moved to a storage position wherein the device takes up little extra room in the golf bag.

A further object of this invention is to provide a golf club aiming device having few component parts which may be manufactured at a very low cost.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved golf club aiming device having a pointer member adapted to extend from the golf club shank a substantial distance which is several times the width of the face of the club head to thereby facilitate proper alignment of the club head face.

3,495,834 Patented Feb. 17, 1970 celeration forces on the club head during the swing will not tend to flex the pointer member sideways,

It is still another object of this invention to provide a light weight golf club aiming device which is suitable to be secured to the club shank near the club head and yet will not substantially effect the weight distribution of the club.

It is still another object of this invention to provide an improved golf club aiming device having a straight guide portion adapted to extend at a right angle to the face of the golf club head along a line disposed just above the center of the head face.

Other and further objects of this invention will become apparent in the detailed description below in connection with the attached drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a pictorial view of a golfer using a golf club having thereon an aiming device made in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged plan view of the golf club in FIG. 1 showing the lower part thereof;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary, partial cross sectional view taken along line 3-3 in FIGURE 2 and disclosing details of one manner of attaching the pointer to the golf club;

FIGURE 4 is a view of the pointer assembly disclosed in FIGURE 2 but as seen from the direction of FIG- URE 3;

FIGURE 5 is the same view of the golf club as seen in FIGURE 4 except that the pointer has been moved to the storage position; and

FIGURE 6 is a somewhat smaller top view of a second preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, there is shown a user, or golfer, having a golf club, indicated generally by the arrow 10, held by the handle at the upper end of shank 11 of the golf club, The head 12 of the golf club extends away from the golfer in the usual manner. In FIGURE 1, it can be seen that the golfer is addressing a ball 13, and an aiming device, indicated generally by the arrow 14 is carried by the golf club 10 and extends in the direction in which the ball is to be hit.

Referring now to FIGURES 2 to 5, the first embodiment of the aiming device 14 will be described in more detail. The particular aiming device 14 is disclosed secured to a putter as it is most useful with a putter, however, it can be used on other clubs.

For purposes of establishing a frame of reference, the invention will be described with the golf club 10 in a position where its shank 11 extends vertically upward and its head 12 extends horizontally in a first direction. Naturally, such language in the specification and in the claims is solely for the purpose of defining a frame of reference for the relative position of the parts of the claimed combination, and is not intended to be limitive except as it defines the relation of the parts. In the club shown, it can be seen that there is provided a club head face 17 which has a width of, usually approximately 4 inches.

There is provided means for anchoring the device 14 to the club 10 just above the head 12. Preferably, the anchoring means takes the form of a generally U-shaped clamp 18 having its curved center portion encircling the shank 11 of the club 10 with its flanges or plates, 20 extending beyond the right side (as seen in FIGURE 3) of the shank. For purposes of giving the clamp 18 a better grip on the shank 11, there is provided a coating of friction material 19 from the inward side of the curved portion of the clamp. For the purpose of causing the clamp 18 to securely grip the shank 11, there is provided a bolt 21 extending through appropriate holes in the plates 20, and the tightening operation can be effected by turning wing nut 23.

As can be seen, there is provided a Washer 22 around the bolt 21 between the plates 20. A pointer member, designated generally by the numeral 24, is swingably mounted on the bolt 21 by receiving the bolt through hook portion 25 of the pointer member. Thereby, the bolt 21 furnishes an axle for the swinging movement. Thereby, the pointer member 24 can be moved between its operative position shown in FIGURES 2 and 4 and its storage position shown in FIGURE 5.

The pointer member 24 is further defined by a root section 26 extending from the hook portion 25 a distance somewhat greater than the diameter of the golf ball 13 when the pointer member is in the operative position. Additionally, a diagonally extending section 27 extends at about a 45 angle to the root section 26 to a guide portoion 28 which is offset from the root section 26 about 2 inches as indicated by dimension line 29. By reason of the offset, when the pointer member 24 is in the operative position, the guide portion 28 extends along a line located somewhat above the center of the club face 17 and at a right angle to the club face. Also, it will be noted that the joinder of the section 27 and the guide portion 28 is approximately three times the diameter of the ball 13 away from the face 17, and therefore, the pointer member 24 does not obstruct in any way the view of the ball.

The pointer member 24 is further shaped at its leading end by a curved section which joins upstanding portion 30 with the guide portion 28. Therefore, if the leading end of the guide portion 28 engages the ground during the stroke, the pointer member 24 would be deflected upwardly and would not dig into the ground. Enlargement 31 on the upper end of the upstanding portion 30 is provided to eliminate the danger of the upstanding portion snagging on something.

At its left end, as seen in FIGURES 2 to 4, the pointer member 24 is further defined by a hook portion 33 adjoining the hook portion 25 so that the pointer member will extend downwardly and to the left (as seen in FIG URE 3) to the point where stop 34 is provided. As can be seen, the stop 34 engages the side of the shank 11 and prevents the pointer 24 from dropping below its horizontal position (assuming that the shank 11 is in the vertical position) shown in FIGURE 4. However, when it is desired to store the club in the golf bag, the pointer member 24 can be swung approximately 90 to the position shown in FIGURE where the guide portion 28 extends parallel to the shank 11.

For use, the operator will tighten the wing nut 23 sufficiently that there is a friction lock between the hook portion 25 of the pointer member 24 and the clamp 18. However, because of the stop 34, the wing nut 23 need only be tightened sufficiently that the pointer member 24 is held snugly and will remain in the operative position of the storage position as desired. That is, the stop 34 prevents further downward movement of the pointer member 24 from the operative position shown during the swing of the club 10.

Preferably, the pointer member 24 is constructed of a stiff springlike wire of, for example, inch in diameter and extends from the shaft 11 a distance of 9 or inches. therefore, the pointer member 24 will not obstruct the view of the ball 13 during the putting stroke. Additionally the pointer member 24 has a highly reflective upper surface facing the golfer in order that the sunlight will make the pointer member 24 more easily seen. This last characteristic is not so important when the aiming device 14 is used on a putter since the golf club head 12 is not moved very far or very fast during the putting operation. However, it is very beneficial when the aiming device 14 is used on other golf clubs, such as for example, the driver where the highly reflective surface enables the golfer to see the alignment of the pointer member 24 during the high speed portion of the stroke as the ball is being hit.

Referring now to FIGURE 6, there is shown another embodiment of the present invention. In this case, there is a pointer member, indicated generally by the arrow 37, which is constructed of the same type wire as in the previous device with a highly reflective surface on the upper side facing the golfer. In this case, guide portion 38 of the pointer member 37 extends straight from hook portion 39. The hook portion 39 is shaped the same as the hook portion 25, and further, the pointer member 37 is bent back on itself as the hook portion 37, and extends to a position where there is located a stop 40. Since the portions 39 and 40 of the pointer member 37 look the same in side view as the equivalent portions of the pointer member 24 appear in FIGURE 3, there is no side view of the pointer member 37. Further, the pointer member 37 has a curved portion at its leading end of the guide portion 38 and has an enlargement 41 for the same purposes as in the case of the pointer member 24.

The pointer member 37 may be hingedly secured to the shank 11 by means of the clamp 18, the bolt 21, the washers 22 and the wing nut 23 as in the first embodiment. Also the pointer member 37 may be moved between a storage position where the pointer member lays parallel to the shank 11 and an operative position at a right angle to the shank and the club face in the first embodiment.

The pointer member 37 has the advantage that it is somewhat simpler to manufacture than the pointer member 24. Also, when the pointer member 37 is in the storage position, it will lay closely alongside the shank 11 whereas the guide portion 28 of the pointer member 24 is offset from the shank 11 about 2 inches when in the storage position.

The pointer member 37 can also be used with any one of the golf clubs. When the pointer member 37 is used on a putter, the advantages of the pointer can still be received since-although the pointer is not directly in line with the ball, it is adjacent the ball. Alsoas in the case of the pointer member 24-the pointer member 37 is about 9 or 10 inches long. Because of this, the golfer has the considerably easier task of aligning a member which is 9 or 10 inches long for purposes of aiming the club face, whereas, if the aiming device is not used, the golfer must correctly align the considerably shorter face of the golf club.

It should be noted that either one of the pointer members 24 or 37 present the advantage that they point in the direction that the golfer desires to hit the ball. This is not only important in that it facilitates making the golfer understand that the ball travels at a right angle to the club face. It has the additional advantage that the acceleration forces on the club during a rapid stroke, such as when the device is used on a driver, do not tend to flex the pointer member in a direction at a right angle to the direction from which the golfer is viewing the pointer member. In other words, if the pointer member extended parallel to the face of the club and at a right angle to the shaft, the acceleration forces during a driving stroke would tend to flex the pointer member free end backward relative to the held end of the pointer member. In such case, the pointer member would give an erroneous indication of the alignment of the head of the club. Such flexing could be counter-acted by making the pointer member more stiflr'; however, among other things, this would add greatly undesired weight at the end of the golf club and throw the golf club out of balance.

While only a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described in detail, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that such is by way of illustration only and that numerous changes can be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, although the pointer members are secured to the shank of the golf club, it would be possible to hingedly secure the pointer member to the head of the golf club by some type of binge connection. However, such approach has the disadvantage that it would involve modification of the club head in order to anchor the pointer member at that point.

I claim:

1. In combination with a golf club having a vertical shank and a head with a face extending horizontally from said shank in a first direction a predetermined distance, a golf club aiming device anchored to said golf club in proximity to the head of said golf club, said device comprising:

a pointer member of predetermined length several times longer than the width of the club head, said pointer member having a first end and a second end;

anchor means anchoring said device to said golf club in proximity to the head of the club at a fixed position on said club;

hinge means swingably connecting said pointer member at said first end to said anchor means for movement between an operative position where the pointer member extends in the direction that the club face faces at substantially a right angle to said club face to a storage position extending generally parallel to the shank of the club to which the anchor means is attached and a stop portion on said pointer member extending downwardly toward said head and directly engaging said shank when said pointer member is in said operative position to prevent further downward movement of the pointer member from said operative position.

2. The invention set forth in claim 1 wherein said anchor means includes:

a U-shaped strap having two parallel flanges joined by a web portion, said web portion being adapted to extend around the shank of a golf club;

an axle extending through said flanges;

and said pointer member is swingably mounted on said axle.

3. The invention set forth in claim 2 wherein:

said pointer member extends between said flanges;

and means are operatively connected with said flanges for urging said flanges toward the pointer member to hold the pointer member in any position in which it is placed relative to a golf club shaft with which the device is used.

4. The invention set forth in claim 1 wherein there is provided at said second end of the pointer member a short deflector portion which is curved a substantial amount in the direction which would be upward when the device is connected to the golf club so as to deflect the second end of the pointer member from the ground should the golf club he turned such that the second end of the pointer member touches the ground during the swing of the club head in the direction of the second end.

5. The combination set forth in claim 1 wherein: said pointer member has a root joinder portion extending from said hinge means to the guide portion in the direction the guide portion points: a distance substantially greater than the diameter of a golf ball, whereby the guide portion does not interfere with the view of a golf ball in close proximity to the center of the face of the golf club head.

6. The invention set forth in claim -1 wherein:

said hinge means includes an axle extending parallel to said first direction;

said pointer member has a hook portion encircling said axle for constraining the pointer member to said axle;

joined with each other.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Hartford 27 3--163 Williams 273l63 Smith 2731 63 Nolting. Duncan.

RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner PAUL E. SHAPIRO, Assistant Examiner 

